Jayme Closs found alive and safe. Courtesy: WTMJ-TV Milwaukee3:08

Missing teenager Jayme Closs has been found alive and suspect has been arrested.

January 11th 2019

2 months ago

/display/newscorpaustralia.com/Web/NewsNetwork/Network News/World/

The abducted girl was found near a cabin in Gordon, about an hour’s drive north of her hometown. Picture: Ho / Barron County Sheriff's Department / AFPSource:AFP

A 21-year-old man has been jailed on kidnapping and homicide charges in the killing of a Wisconsin couple and abduction of their teenage daughter, who was dramatically found alive after almost three months.

Jayme Closs, 13, was found on Thursday near a cabin where she had been held since October 15 in the small town of Gordon, about an hour’s drive north from her family’s home in Barron.

Her hair was matted and she was wearing oversized shoes after escaping from a rural cabin approximately 120 kilometres from her hometown, police said.

Douglas County Sheriff Thomas Dalbec said at a news conference on Friday morning local time that Jake Thomas Patterson was arrested minutes after her recovery, based on Jayme’s description of his vehicle.

He was charged over Jayme’s abduction as well as on two counts of murder in the fatal shooting of Denise and James Closs in their home, police said.

Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said investigators believed Patterson, who lives in Gordon, killed Mr and Mrs Closs because he wanted to abduct their daughter. The sheriff said the suspect “took many steps to hide his identity.”

Jayme Closs, 13, said she had been held at a cabin against her will for almost three months.Source:Supplied

Jayme escaped from the cabin on Thursday and was helped by a local woman out walking her dog.

The teenager called out to the dog-walker and said she was lost, grabbing on to the woman before telling her who she was.

Jeanne Nutter told The Associated Press they then went to a neighbour’s house to call 911. She said her goal was to get Jayme to a safe place.

Ms Nutter said her many years as a social worker in child protection helped her keep Jayme calm as they sought help.

The 13-year-old girl vanished October 15 after her parents were fatally shot at their home about 97 kilometres south in Douglas County.

Abductee Elizabeth Smart said it was a “miracle” the 13-year-old girl missing for nearly three months had been found safe.

Ms Smart was 14 when she was abducted from her Salt Lake City home in 2002. She was rescued nine months later.

The youngster’s parents were found shot dead at their home in Barron, Wisconsin, on October 15 and Jayme was nowhere to be found. Picture: AP Photo/Jeff BaenenSource:AP

Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald at an October news conference after the teenager was reported as missing. Picture: Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via AP, FileSource:AP

Locals were overjoyed after Jayme was found alive and well in Gordon, an hour’s drive from her family home, on Thursday. Picture: AP Photo/Jeff BaenenSource:AP

She wrote on her Instagram account on Friday she was thrilled Jayme had been found, adding that while the country celebrates this “happy occasion,” the girl’s family should be given “space and privacy on their road to finding a new sense of normal and moving forward.”

Ms Smart said “whatever other details may surface, the most important will still remain that she is alive.”

Jayme disappeared in October after her parents were killed inside their home in Barron, Wisconsin. She was found on Thursday in a town about an hour’s drive north after approaching a woman walking her dog, saying she’d been held against her will.

Kristin Kasinskas said she took Jayme into her home after the girl turned up on her doorstep with Ms Nutter on Thursday afternoon in the small town of Gordon.

Ms Kasinskas said Jayme told her the name of the person who had been holding her captive, saying she recognised the name but did not know the person.

Jake Patterson, 21, was arrested on Thursday and charged with the murders of James and Denise Closs and kidnap of their daughter. Picture: AP Photo/Jeff Baenen, FileSource:AP

Volunteers searching for Jayme in October after her parents were found fatally shot. Picture: AP Photo/Jeff Baenen, FileSource:AP

Ms Kasinskas told NBC’s Today Show that Jayme talked about being locked up or hidden when the person had to leave, but that the girl did not explain in detail how she got away.

Peter Kasinskas told Minnesota Public Radio News that Jayme told him she had been abducted, that her parents had been murdered and that she had left a nearby house after she had been left alone.

Jayme’s relieved grandfather received a call late on Thursday informing him his granddaughter had been found alive.

Robert Naiberg told The Associated Press on Friday that his daughter called him with news that the 13-year-old had escaped her captor near Gordon.

Mr Naiberg said Jayme reported that she had been held by “a guy in the woods” but was able to escape.

Investigators confirmed a suspect was in custody on Thursday.

Jayme’s aunt Jen Smith told ABC’s Good Morning America her niece was being treated at a hospital on Thursday.

Investigators are expected to explain how they located a Wisconsin teenager missing for three months alive and took a suspect into custody. Authorities say 13-year-old Jayme Closs was found Thursday afternoon in the Town of Gordon in Douglas County, Wisconsin. A suspect was apprehended minutes later. Jayme was taken to a hospital for an evaluation.

What happens when you are charged with a crime?1:37

Are you in sticky situation with the law? Or have you suddenly found yourself on the other side of the thin blue line?
Whether you are guilty or not, here's what to expect when you are facing criminal proceedings.